Jan-Jan Sanjivni Abhiyan12.5 lakh saplings planted
Shimla, August 3
History was created in the state today when over 12.5 lakh saplings of medicinal species were planted, virtually involving all households in both rural and urban areas, in the biggest ever initiative to involve people in the forestry programme.

Power Corpn InitiativeMeet target, get incentive
Shimla, August 3
The Himachal Power Corporation has introduced a variable incentive scheme to reward employees for good performance. It is for the first time that such a scheme is being implemented in any state government organisation. The initiative aims at bringing corporate work culture of the private sector in the public sector undertaking.

Rural employment scheme fails to deliver
Solan, August 3
With the union ministry of rural development releasing barely Rs 31.73 crore for eight districts as against a projection of about Rs 127 crore as the first instalment of the ambitious National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
(NREGS), its slow pace in the state has become apparent.

Govt criticised for shifting sports project
Bilaspur, August 3
The District Congress Committee has lashed out at the local BJP leadership, including forest minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, for his failure to protect the interests of the district and its people.

CM lays stone of power substation
Karian (Chamba), August 3
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal laid the foundation stone of a 220-KV power substation at Karian in Chamba district today. The cost of the project would be around Rs 82
crore.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal lays the foundation stone of a 220-KV power substation at Karian in Chamba district on Sunday.
— Photo by Bal Krishan Prashar

State for master plan to harvest rainwater
Shimla, August 3
The state government will formulate a master plan to put in place necessary infrastructure for harvesting rainwater in the state and recharging the ground water for smooth operations of the
water schemes.

Plan to make state pollution-free
Shimla, August 3
The state government will formulate a comprehensive plan in consultation with public representatives and non-government organisations for raising plantations along the national and state highways all over the state.

COOL DELIGHT: A couple enjoys the weather as the state capital experiences light showers on Sunday.
— Tribune photo by S. Chandan

Projects in memory of martyrs incomplete
Palampur, August 3
The Himachal Government is not serious about projects named in “memory of martyrs” who laid down their lives while fighting Kargil war and anti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir.

Petrol dealers losing business
Dharamsala, August 3
Petrol station owners in the border areas of the state are losing business. They allege that their ventures are turning unviable because diesel is cheaper in Punjab.
The worst hit are the petrol dealers of the Damtal area.

Elders support BSP protest against TCP Act
Bilaspur, August 3
The Elder Citizens’ Association, a social organisation of retired employees and officers here, has supported the demand of the Bahujan Samaj Party to remove the Himachal Pradesh Town and Country Planning Act (TCP) from
Bilaspur, which is a developing town of poor Bhakra dam oustees.

BJP to reorganise party units
Shimla, August 3
The state unit of the BJP has decided to reorganise the party units in accordance with the recent delimitation of the Assembly and parliamentary constituencies.
The decision was taken at the meeting of state officer-bearers here yesterday under the chairmanship of the state party chief, Jai Ram
Thakur.

Red tape denies villagers right to natural resources
Dharamsala, August 3
Red tape and the failure of the government to legalise mining in the permitted area have rendered hundreds of mine labourers in Dhari and Khaniara villages jobless. They have been denied the right to their natural resources.

Villagers resent HPSEB inaction
Kangra, August 3
Resentment continues to prevail among residents of Ansoli village on the outskirts of this town for the failure of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) to provide normal voltage power supply to their consumers in the village.

Leopard on the prowl in Barog area
Kumarhatti, August 3
The reported prowling of a leopard in the area of Barog has hit the normal lives of the villagers. Their cattle were attacked by the leopard in the past few days.
A veterinary official of the area said few months ago three animals of cattle were killed by the leopard.

Row over burial of woman
Nurpur, August 3
Fatma Bibi (70), a Muslim, died yesterday from snakebite and was buried amidst police protection today due to a row between villagers and the Muslim community at Bhaleta village in Kathal gram panchayat here.

Staff shortage hits teaching in college
Nurpur, August 3
Arya Government College that was taken over by the then Prem Kumar Dhumal government in June 2002 has failed to get a status of a full-fledged college. Only three regular lecturers are teaching 500 students in the current academic session.

New diploma soon
Shimla, August 3
Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) will be introducing a one-year diploma in Hearing Language and Speech
(DHLS) in collaboration with the All-India Institute of Speech and Hearing,
Mysore.

Minjar Fair concludes
Chamba, August 3
The eight-day-long international Minjar Fair concluded here today. Chief Minister
P.K. Dhumal, who was the chief guest on the occasion, immersed the golden ‘minjars’ (top blossoms of the maize plant) with coconuts in Ravi river to mark the end of the fair amidst the performance of traditional and religious rituals here.

Employees’ panel formed
Shimla, Augusts 3
The Central Government Employees Coordination Committee has formed a joint forum in league with various state employees bodies to collectively fight for an honourable pay settlement under the Sixth Pay Commission and pursue other issues.

Ex-PTA chief threatens to move court
Hamirpur, August 3
The election to the Parent Teachers’ Association (PTA) of the local government postgraduate college that was held here today has generated a controversy. The outgoing PTA president has termed the election as ‘farce’ and threatened to move the court.

Shimla, August 3
History was created in the state today when over 12.5 lakh saplings of medicinal species were planted, virtually involving all households in both rural and urban areas, in the biggest ever initiative to involve people in the forestry programme.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal launched the “Jan-Jan Sanjivni Van Abhiyan-2008” by planting a sapling of taxus baccata (rakhal) on the premises of his official residence Oakover in the morning. Thereafter, plantation was undertaken in various districts, town and villages with ministers, legislators, municipal councillors and panchayat functionaries leading the drive.

Dhumal also distributed saplings among those present on the occasion, including local MLA, mayor and councillors of the Shimla Municipal Corporation, members of the Rotary Club and other non-governmental organisations.

He said it was for the first time that such a massive campaign to plant medicinal and herbal plants had been launched in the state with people participation. He said it would perhaps be a world record that so many saplings were planted all over the state in a single day. The Forest Department had set up 4,509 distribution centres to provide saplings to the people.

The aim was to draw attention of the people towards the ongoing degradation of the environment and motivate them to take remedial measures like mass afforestation. He said the plantation would not only increase the green cover, but also help realise the dream to make Himachal the “herbal state” of the country.

He said the government was going ahead with its plan of free soil testing so that farmers could get better returns. He said the government was also exploring the possibility of planting fruit trees along the national and state highways to further supplement the Jan-Jan Sanjivni Van Abhiyan.

Forest and environment minister J.P. Nadda said plants were made available to the people on demand and the entire department was working in close coordination with the public representatives, NGOs and other agencies to associate people with the campaign.

MANDI: Over 2.38 lakh medicinal saplings were planted by residents in the district on Sunday. This was done under the Jan-Jan Sanjivni Abhiyan. Forest officials said this was for the first time residents celebrated Vanmahotsava on the same day.

HAMIRPUR: Anurag Thakur, Hamirpur MP, inaugurated the ‘Jan Jan Sanjivini’ programme at NIT on Sunday by planting a tree. He also distributed medicinal plants to the people.

SUNDERNAGAR: MLA Thakur Roop Singh MLA planted a sapling at Jangan Bagh Complex as part of the Jan-Jan Sanjivni Van Abiyan on Sunday. He was accompanied by DFO Pardeep Thakur, SDM R.K. Gautam, officers of the Forest Department and local BJP workers. Thakur addressed the gathering on the occasion. The Forest Department had distributed around 6,000 saplings in the area.

KANGRA: Thousands of medicinal saplings were planted at different places in the Kangra subdivision despite inclement weather on Sunday. Students and the staff of Government Polytechnic College planted a few hundred saplings on the college and hostel campus. College principal Sunil Verma headed the drive. Forest range officer Manohar Lal said 22,301 saplings were distributed in 57 panchayats and Kangra town in the subdivision.

Shimla, August 3
The Himachal Power Corporation has introduced a variable incentive scheme to reward employees for good performance. It is for the first time that such a scheme is being implemented in any state government organisation. The initiative aims at bringing corporate work culture of the private sector in the public sector undertaking.

The employees deployed at various hydroelectric projects will be entitled to one-month salary as incentive if the targets set for the financial year were achieved.

Targets have been fixed for the purpose for all five projects, which are at different stages of execution. The employees in the corporate office will receive 25 per cent of a month’s salary for every target achieved, subject to a maximum of one-month salary.

The target for the 111-MW Sawara Kuddu project is to get the work started on all packages by March, 2009. In case of 65-MW Kashang (first phase) project, the aim is to start work on all civil works by February, 2009. In case of the 40-MW Renuka project, the targets pertain to acquisition of land and obtaining various mandatory clearances. Similarly, the target for the 402-MW Shong Tong project is to award all
contracts by July, 2009.

As employees are mostly averse to working in difficult areas, the corporation has come out with an incentive scheme providing for extra wages for every day spent at such projects. If an employee stays in the area for the whole month, he will be entitled to 30 per cent extra wages.

The extra wages will be calculated on daily basis and the employee will be paid only for the number of days actually spent in such areas.

Managing director of the corporation Tarun Kapoor said the objective was to ensure that projects were executed in a time-bound manner.

Solan, August 3
With the union ministry of rural development releasing barely Rs 31.73 crore for eight districts as against a projection of about Rs 127 crore as the first instalment of the ambitious National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
(NREGS), its slow pace in the state has become apparent.

The state had sought funds to the tune of Rs 127 crore but only a budget of Rs 73.93 crore was sanctioned indicating that the state had failed to perform to the desired expectations. The ministry had devised a transparent system of assessing the progress of the scheme, whereby, all data was periodically updated on the official website. This allowed the ministry to have ready data on the progress made in providing employment to the people in the state.

Officials while agreeing to the initial slow pace of this scheme said they were hopeful that the scheme would catch up once the growing and harvesting of vegetable crops and apples finished by the end of October.

While agreeing to the lack of awareness about the scheme among the rural folks, the officials also opined that they would ensure that more was done to publicise the scheme through panchayati raj institutes, including block development officers. It may be mentioned that the scheme had earlier too hit a roadblock as the union ministry had failed to release the first instalment of Rs 127 crore after an interim fund of Rs 5 crore. This had not only delayed the payments to needy but the scheme had drawn flak from the rural folks.

Secretary rural development Shrikant Baldi said the initial pace of the scheme had been rather slow but added that it was partially attributed to the byelection in three of the eight districts of Hamirpur, Bilaspur and Una. He, however, said since a mid-term review of the scheme was slated for September; any shortage in the funds could be presented before the ministry. Besides, the scheme was demand-driven and more funds could flow vis-à-vis demand in
the state.

It was, however, worth mentioning that with the union ministry allocating barely 43 per cent of the much-awaited delayed budget, the scheme appeared to have failed to reach the target-population. Dwelling on assured employment for at least 100 days, it was the official laxity, which failed to make the most of this ambitious poverty
alleviation scheme.

Bilaspur, August 3
The District Congress Committee has lashed out at the local BJP leadership, including forest minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, for his failure to protect the interests of the district and its people.

Addressing mediapersons here yesterday, newly appointed district Congress spokesman, Praveen Sharma said former forest minister Ram Lal Thakur had succeeded in getting sanctioned a Rs 34 lakh synthetic track athletics project from the central government and most of the work was complete at the Luhnu sports complex when the election commission declared elections.

Sharma said it had been announced by the state government that the project was being shifted to the
Hamirpur town.

He said the announcement had sent shock waves among sportspersons and athletes of the district.

The spokesman said the Congress viewed the matter seriously and it would appreciate if another synthetic track was laid at Hamirpur with the efforts of the BJP government, but it would not allow the BJP to snatch the project from the district and oblige another district without making any effort for the project. He said the Congress would be forced to launch an agitation if the government did not desist from its scheme of shifting the project and did not restart its construction work.

He also criticised the state government for its failure to obey the central government instructions and for enforcing the National Rural Employment Guaranty Scheme.

Karian (Chamba), August 3
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal laid the foundation stone of a 220-KV power substation at Karian in Chamba district today. The cost of the project would be around Rs 82 crore.

Once complete, the substation would provide power to 960 villages in the district. It would be fed through 220-KV transmission lines. The substation would be linked to the 400-KV power grid of the Chamera Power Station (stage-II).

Sources said the substation would go a long way in mitigating the low-voltage problem in the region. There was also a plan to set up two power substations of 132 KV each at Kurthala in Churah tehsil and Lahal in the
Bharmour area.

Shimla, August 3
The state government will formulate a master plan to put in place necessary infrastructure for harvesting rainwater in the state and recharging the ground water for smooth operations of the
water schemes.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said this while reviewing the functioning of the Rural Development Department here.

He said water was fast becoming a scarce commodity and
every drop of it was required to be utilised.

It was high time to create alternative infrastructures to recharge the needs of various water bodies in view of the receding ground water level.

He said harvesting rainwater was made mandatory for all official buildings and people were also motivated to make provision for it in their buildings.

Dhumal said there was a need to pool resources available with the various departments. The state would launch the total sanitation programme more vigorously
in 2010.

He said the block development officers would be directed to implement and monitor the scheme in their respective areas.

The Maharishi Valmiki Sampooran Swachhata Puraskar was introduced to motivate the people and the mahila
mandals were associated with the campaign.

He said the gram panchayat achieving the target would get an additional development prize.

The state government would explore the possibilities of assigning some development activities to both units of the panchayati raj system so that the workload of the gram panchayats was reduced.

Shimla, August 3
The state government will formulate a comprehensive plan in consultation with public representatives and non-government organisations for raising plantations along the national and state highways all over the state.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal told mediapersons here on Friday that broad-leaved trees were traditionally planted along the pathways to provide shade to
travellers. However, for the past few years, roadside plantations had been neglected. Besides protecting the existing trees, the government would explore the possibilities of planting trees like
peepal, mango and ‘jamun’ depending upon the suitability.

He said the Public Works Department would carry out the plantation work by involving the public representatives. Dhumal said he would write to all members of parliament, state Assembly and panchayati raj institutions to actively cooperate in the implementation of the plan and making the hill state free from
pollution.

Dhumal said the state government would explore the possibilities of setting up of a thermal power plant to supplement the hydropower generation. He said it proposed to review the MoU singed with private company EMTA for pithead power plant and like to have a plant outside the state, close to the allotted coal pit.

Regarding the appointment of chairpersons of various boards and corporations he said the names had been sent to the party high command and approval was awaited.

Palampur, August 3
The Himachal Government is not serious about projects named in “memory of martyrs” who laid down their lives while fighting Kargil war and anti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir.

Construction of a Rs 70 lakh primary health centre, which is being constructed in memory of martyr Major Sudheer Walia, is yet to be completed because of official bottlenecks as the government could not finalise the design of the building in the past one year.

The former Chief Minister had announced the construction of the hospital in memory of the martyr in his native Banuri village, but the BJP government was voted out of power and the project remained incomplete.

After the fall of the BJP government, Rulai Ram, father of Major Walia, moved from pillar to post for five years but all in vain.

However, after the struggle he succeeded in persuading Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal and the project was
finalised.

Dharamsala, August 3
Petrol station owners in the border areas of the state are losing business. They allege that their ventures are turning unviable because diesel is cheaper in Punjab.

The worst hit are the petrol dealers of the Damtal area. The 7-km Damtal stretch is sandwiched between Punjab areas. Owners of petrol pumps in this area say diesel is available in Punjab at Rs 1.76 per litre less than the rate applicable in Himachal. A truck owner saves Rs 600 if he gets the tank of his vehicle filled from a petrol station in Punjab areas instead of an outlet in the Himachal territory.

Although petrol is cheaper in Himachal and this fact lures some customers from Punjab to their outlets, but they lose out more on reduced diesel sales than what they make from the “jacked-up” sale of petrol, they maintain.

These petrol dealers also allege that the Himachal Government has set up an RTO barrier at Damtal where tax is charged from vehicle owners using that stretch of the national highway. Due to this reason, more than 50 per cent of the people travelling on this route have no switched over to alternative routes developed by Punjab through Mukerian.

This has further hit sales at petrol stations in the Damtal area, they allege.

Bilaspur, August 3
The Elder Citizens’ Association, a social organisation of retired employees and officers here, has supported the demand of the Bahujan Samaj Party to remove the Himachal Pradesh Town and Country Planning Act (TCP) from Bilaspur, which is a developing town of poor Bhakra dam oustees.

R.L. Sharma, general secretary of the association, said here that the association had even earlier submitted a representation to the government that the application of the regulatory Act would create bottlenecks in the rehabilitation of the oustees.

The population of oustees is strongly resenting the application of its rules and regulations in the town, as it has made the rehabilitation process much more difficult and painful.

The BSP has started a peaceful agitation here. It demanded the withdrawal of the Act from the town and other adjoining villages.

Party activists, drawn from various parts of the adversely affected villages, led by BSP state general secretaries K.K. Kaushal and Sukhram Chauhan and district president Kesh Pathania, joined the peaceful dharna outside the office of Nagar Parishad.

They presented a memorandum to the Chief Minister through the Deputy Commissioner after the demonstration here.

They warned that the agitation would be intensified if the government did not listen to their genuine demands.

Earlier, the BSP had launched a signature campaign against this Act that was a grand success.

Shimla, August 3
The state unit of the BJP has decided to reorganise the party units in accordance with the recent delimitation of the Assembly and parliamentary constituencies.

The decision was taken at the meeting of state officer-bearers here yesterday under the chairmanship of the state party chief, Jai Ram Thakur.

It was decided that the exercise should be completed by August 15 so that the party could gear up for the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.

Party general secretary Khushi Ram Balnatah said the party functionaries of one Assembly constituency, whose areas were shifted to another segment as a result of delimitation, would be adjusted in the new unit.

Similarly, the posts falling vacant would be filled.

It was decided that the women wing of the party would organise four “aabhar” rallies, one in each parliamentary constituency, to thank the government for raising the quota for women in the urban local bodies and panchayati raj institutions from 33 to 50 per cent.

He said the BJP was the only party to give 3 per cent representation to the women in the organisational set up.

The party also decided to organise dharnas in Raj Bhawan from August 11 to 13 against the decision of the Jammu Kashmir government to take back the land allotted to the Amarnath Shrine Board.

Party men will court arrests in groups for three days to express their solidarity with the agitating people of the Jammu and Kashmir.

Dharamsala, August 3
Red tape and the failure of the government to legalise mining in the permitted area have rendered hundreds of mine labourers in Dhari and Khaniara villages jobless. They have been denied the right to their natural resources.

The forest area in the Dhari and Khaniara panchayats was mined for slate for centuries. However, acting on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), in 2000, the Himachal Pradesh High Court banned mining in the area.

The state government moved the Indian Government to seek permission for mining under the Forest Conservation Act. On the plea of the government in 2001, 25 hectares of the forest’s area was opened for mining by a committee constituted under the Act.

The state government deposited Rs 11,80,000 as a forestland use charges and got the 25-hectare area cleared for mining for 30 years.

It had been six years, but the government had failed to provide the mining licenses.

The sources in the department said after 2000 the Khaniara and Dhari panchayats got split into nine independent panchayats. The revenue area that was cleared for mining was in panchayat Soknika. Six out of the nine panchayats had given clearance to start mining in the marked area. Other panchayats had, however, not given their consent to the revenue sharing
proposal.

Officials of the Department of Mining said since the revenue area in which the mining was opened falls in just one panchayat, the consent of other panchayats was not mandatory.

The government has already lost six years out of the 30-year permission. The failure of government to legalise mining in the permitted area is also giving boost to illegal mining in the area.

The traders of slates were exploiting the poor mine labourers of the area. These labourers were used to carry illegal mining at petty sums by traders in the higher reaches of mountains.

Kangra, August 3
Resentment continues to prevail among residents of Ansoli village on the outskirts of this town for the failure of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) to provide normal voltage power supply to their consumers in the village.

The village panchayat in yet another resolution passed on Thursday last has allegedly denounced the HPSEB authorities for not redressing the genuine voltage problem of the village.

Meanwhile, the villagers have started a signature campaign highlighting their genuine voltage problem and criticising the HPSEB for its failure to redress
their problem.

The Ansoli residents and panchayat members A.B. Rajbansh, Ajay Kumar and Hem Raj had reportedly approached the JE and the SDO, and then in writing, the panchayat resolution passed on June 25 was sent to the Dharamsala HPSEB executive engineer.

The panchayat now passed another resolution on July 31, denouncing the alleged lukewarm attitude of the HPSEB towards the people’s problem and highlighting their low-voltage problem.

HPSEB superintending engineer Ashok Kumar said Ansoli village had a justified low-voltage problem and assured that it would be sorted out by installing a new transformer in the village and funds would be arranged for the same. He, however, said the villagers should allow the HPSEB to raise the electric poles for the same in the village.

HPSEB chairman Ajay Mittal said appropriate action would be taken to mitigate the problem in the village.

Kumarhatti, August 3
The reported prowling of a leopard in the area of Barog has hit the normal lives of the villagers. Their cattle were attacked by the leopard in the past few days.

A veterinary official of the area said few months ago three animals of cattle were killed by the leopard.

School going children from the Barog area to the government schools at Chewa and Aanjee were worst affected. Due to the fear of the leopard the children have to go to their schools by buses that was a costly and cumbersome affair for them.

The farmers have also started completing their field’s work before the sun set. The villagers stay at their homes after evening. There is a self-imposed curfew like situation in the area.

Sanjay Thakur, the Barog-based treasurer of the BJP, Solan district Yuva Morcha, has demanded that the Forest Department should immediately lay a trap to catch the leopard.

Nurpur, August 3
Fatma Bibi (70), a Muslim, died yesterday from snakebite and was buried amidst police protection today due to a row between villagers and the Muslim community at Bhaleta village in Kathal gram panchayat here.

The family of the deceased had to wait for three hours to bury the body in the village’s graveyard, as some of the villagers were opposing to the digging of the grave.

They were against the burial in that place. With the intervention of the police and the local gram panchayat, the burial
took place.

Meanwhile, state BJP minorities’ morcha vice- president Yakub Khan, in a statement, has condemned the muscle power shown by villagers in the last rites of the deceased. He said it had hurt the feelings of the minorities.

He said the police and administration were informed about the opposition by some villagers to bury the deceased in the traditional graveyard of the Muslims.

The gram panchayat pradhan claimed that the row between the villagers and the Muslims was settled peacefully.

Nurpur, August 3
Arya Government College that was taken over by the then Prem Kumar Dhumal government in June 2002 has failed to get a status of a full-fledged college. Only three regular lecturers are teaching 500 students in the current academic session.

The pervious Virbhadra Singh government had provided a building to the college and even a science block during its last regime, but the status of a government college was given by the previous P.K. Dhumal government. Intriguingly, no government had either filled its vacant posts or added any faculty to it.

Only seven subjects of Arts stream are being taught here and posts of four lectures in Hindi, history and political science have been lying vacant since long.

Recently, a Sanskrit lecturer was transferred from here to government college, Nora, leaving only three lectures in English, economics and sociology in the college.

The previous Virbhadra Singh government had sanctioned additional 27 posts of college lecturers and 22 posts of non-teaching staff in August 2007 and a notification in this connection was also issued. But it failed to fill these posts barring single post of lecturer in sociology.

However, the P.K. Dhumal government after coming into power had revoked the notification issued by the previous government.

Baldev Singh, the college SCA president, has urged the Chief Minister to fill the vacant posts and provide additional faculty to the college from the current session.

Shimla, August 3
Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) will be introducing a one-year diploma in Hearing Language and Speech
(DHLS) in collaboration with the All-India Institute of Speech and Hearing,
Mysore.

Disclosing this here yesterday, health minister Dr Rajeev Bindal said the course would be offered to 20 candidates through distance education from this month. He said this had been made possible with the support of the National Programme of Prevention and Control of Deafness, the ministry of health and family welfare.

He said, “The programme was geared to cater to the needs of individuals with communication disorder and the students would be trained for early identification of the disorder and basic
rehabilitation.”

Chamba, August 3
The eight-day-long international Minjar Fair concluded here today. Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal, who was the chief guest on the occasion, immersed the golden ‘minjars’ (top blossoms of the maize plant) with coconuts in Ravi river to mark the end of the fair amidst the performance of traditional and religious rituals here.

Narendra Bragta, horticulture minister, Renu Chadha, B.K. Chauhan, both MLAs, Munish Garg, Chamba deputy commissioner, R.S. Negi, SP, took part in the procession, which began from the Akhand Chandi Palace and converged on the bank of the river for the immersion ceremony.

Earlier, the Chief Minister laid the foundation stones of 220-KV substation of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board at Karian near here. He inaugurated ‘kisan hostel’ on the premises of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra at Saroo near here.

Shimla, Augusts 3
The Central Government Employees Coordination Committee has formed a joint forum in league with various state employees bodies to collectively fight for an honourable pay settlement under the Sixth Pay Commission and pursue other issues.

The body will be headed by president of State Secretariat Employees Union Daulat Chauhan.

The main demands being raised by the committee include minimum pay of Rs 10,000, equal pay fixation formula for all categories of employees, no abolition of Class- D posts, regularisation of daily-wagers and lifting of ban on recruitment of gramin dak sewaks. The committee also opposed the unbundling of the state electricity board.

Hamirpur, August 3
The election to the Parent Teachers’ Association (PTA) of the local government postgraduate college that was held here today has generated a controversy. The outgoing PTA president has termed the election as ‘farce’ and threatened to move the court.

The PTA elected its new president Pawan Kumar amidst very low turnout, where only 66 parents participated in the election.

The outgoing president said, “The election was illegal since the minimum quorum of 100 members was not present and I would move the court.”

Principal of the college said, “Though there is a provision for the presence of minimum 100 members, the meeting of the PTA had waved off this condition.”

This would create job opportunities for the youth participating in winter sports, besides helping them in securing admissions in various educational institutions, he said. This would also encourage the youth to participate in national and international winter games.